1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medication assist, and more particularly, to a medication service device, a medication box, and apparatus and method for assisting medication that assist and encourage individuals to regularly take medications in their daily lives.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patients with chronic illness and the elderly have to continually take medications on a regular schedule in the daily lives.
However, the elderly may have difficulty in following medication (i.e., continuously taking medication on schedule) due to memory failure. For this reason, many regimens have recently been developed for systematically assisting medication such that the elderly can readily adapt themselves to medication schedules and take an accurate dose of medication on time.
The regimens for assisting medication that have been developed have turned out to be considerably effective when actually applied to the elderly.
Among the regimens for enhancing medication, a representative regimen includes an apparatus for assisting medication, such as a medication bottle or box to which a clock and an alarm are attached. If a time to take a medication is set, this apparatus for assisting medication informs the user to take the medication via sound or voice at the set time. Other regimens provide apparatuses, each of which uses a sensor and a communication device attached to a medication box to transmit a medication situation to a server. Each of these apparatuses with the sensor mounted on a cover regards an individual as having taken his or her medication when the cover is open, and manages the medication situation of the individual by transmitting the medication situation to the server.
Individual doses of medications to be taken at one time, formulated according to prescriptions, are generally provided to patients in the form of a small sealed bag in order to prevent patients from taking an incorrect medication. However, the conventional apparatuses cannot afford a service for individually packaged doses of medications. In addition, the conventional apparatuses do not count on a case where one user is required to take several types of medications per day. For example, a user may take different medications for one disease in the morning, noon and evening, as well as other different types of medications every day for a different medical condition or disease such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc. However, the conventional apparatuses are not designed in consideration of these cases.
Furthermore, the conventional apparatuses are designed to store and service some medications that can be taken over a short period. In the case of long-term medication for a chronic disease, the conventional apparatuses have a problem in distributing medications every day.
Moreover, the conventional apparatuses carry out a medication service regardless of the situations of the individuals utilizing them. For example, when an individual is out with medications, the conventional apparatuses cannot afford to perform a suitable service.